'This is a welcome change from my last two TV shows. I was a zombie in one and a pseudo-Mary Sue in the other.' Photos: Handout
IF two characters and a few cameos aren't enough to convince viewers that Boston Blue is a Blue Bloods spin-off, how about a whole family vibe?One of the strongest elements of Bloods was the unbreakable (if slightly shakeable, at times) family bond of the Reagans, its central Irish-Catholic law enforcement clan.
Their Sunday dinners – seen in all but a tiny few of the series' 293 episodes over 14 seasons – provided comfort, affirmation, acceptance of opposing views, loving banter, and occasionally, dramatic tension.
It doesn't take long for Boston Blue to put its principal non-Reagan characters in place, substituting the more homogeneous clan with a mixed-race, multi-faith family with an even more complicated structure.
First, to link the two, we have Donnie Wahlberg's Danny Reagan coming over to Boston. Initially, it's because his younger son Sean (Mika Amonsen, taking over the role from Andrew Terraciano) is involved in a case and needs him there.
After he turns out to have some (law enforcement) chemistry with Detective Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green, The Walking Dead, Star Trek: Discovery), he ends up sticking around – not just with cases, but to help out Sean, who is now a cop and fifth-generation Reagan law enforcer.
'Sure, leave the rookie open to police brutality allegations while you detectives keep your hands clean.'
Lena's family is the linchpin clan of the show. Her mother Mae (Gloria Reuben) is the District Attorney; Lena's stepsister Sarah (Maggie Lawson) is the Superintendent of Detectives; and Lena's younger brother Jonah (Marcus Scribner) is a rookie cop and ... Sean's partner/best buddy from the police academy.
(Yeah, I heard you whispering "Woke Reagan Lite" in the back there.)
After 14 years of playing the hard-headed, gruff but dedicated Danny, Wahlberg immediately becomes a steady anchoring point as Boston Blue struggles to find its footing.
Indeed, the struggle is clear. The show follows a tried-and-tested formula, a little too closely and slavishly perhaps, while the new characters take some getting used to.
Does Lena need to be such an overachiever? (Brrr, he shivered, suppressing a sudden Michael Burnham flashback.) Do Danny's attempts to learn more about his new partner have to sound like an interrogation all the time? Does Mae need to sound more convincing when she's quoting famous figures to make a point? (Yes, she does.)
It's a long list, but by the time the series hit its Thanksgiving break a couple of weeks back after six episodes, the newbies had finally started to come into their own. And admittedly, the different Silver family members' dinner-time Danny Reagan impressions were a hoot.
'Yes, we're definitely channelling the Hardy Boys here. The investigators, not the wrestlers.'
At said break, too, the cases became a bit more interesting from the early standard-issue "crimes of the week": a serial home invader's escalating violence (resolved too quickly, alas) and a corrupt prosecutor whose actions may see the killer of a Silver family member back out on the street (possibly a season-long plot thread).
Has Boston Blue been impressive so far? Not terribly so, it must be said, but it's reliable enough – with the potential to be much more – for the undemanding to get their weekly fix of police procedural / family drama.
New episodes of Boston Blue air every Saturday on AXN (Astro Ch 701 / Unifi TV Ch 453).
Summary:
Familiarity breeds comfort (mostly).
